Family cars targeted by thieves cashing in on scrap metal

Rising cost of scrap metal has produced another form of theft

Scrap metal has now soared in value; recently there were reports of grids missing from drains at the kerbside it now seems thieves have moved on to family cars. Instead of stealing the upmarket cars as in recent times they are targeting older vehicles to crush and ship abroad to India and China where the demand is very high. It has been reported that thefts have climbed more than fifty percent in the past year. Police have been raiding salvage yards and at one scrap yard in Hertfordshire it was discovered that half of the vehicles were stolen.

There has also been a massive drop of abandoned vehicles left on the roads. Five years ago councils had to remove eight hundred abandoned vehicles each day, a year ago it was reduced to approximately two hundred and twenty five cars. It was only eighteen months ago that the fee to have a car towed away was &pound;50 but today an old car would be worth &pound;200 scrap value.